


The Willow Home

by TheKiller1227



Category: Divergent Series - Veronica Roth
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Child Abuse, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Multi, Non-Graphic Violence, Physical Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-22
Updated: 2015-04-22
Packaged: 2018-03-14 11:50:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3409541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheKiller1227/pseuds/TheKiller1227
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s this house. It’s a pretty strange house. It’s an awesome house though; but, the kids that live there are not the best behaved kids. They all have stories that are just begging to be unleashed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**X x X x X**

It’s not that my parents didn’t love each other. It’s just that my dad works for the government. So, that meant that his job would send him hallway across the country sometimes. Sometimes, I swore that I could see the steam coming out her ears when he would tell her. Sometimes late at night, whenever I couldn’t sleep, I would hear her crying. It broke my heart.

So, when I woke up one morning to my mom kissing me on top of my head, needless to say I was confused. When I woke again and walked into the dining room, I didn’t expect to find my dad to be sitting at the island with his head in his hands. When I asked what was wrong, he looked up at me with a look of distrust.

“She’s gone because of you and your brother,” he spit at me, pushing past me, leaving the letter. After that, my father went off the deep end. It wasn’t very long after mom left that my brother, Caleb, and I were taken by the social services. The last that I had heard of my dad was taken into custody for questioning.

I probably should hate him, but I don’t. I get it. My dad is hurt. He had a pretty good home life while he was growing up. His job is pretty stressful. He hasn’t exactly gotten to watch us grow up either. So, no I don’t really blame him, but I also don’t want to live in a home with him, because he is unstable.

The effects of my mom leaving wasn’t just mental, it was also physical to. I ended up rarely eating what food we did get. So, because of that, I became anorexic. I would run around the house constantly just so that I could keep some sort of my figure.

**X x X x X**

I was sixteen when my brother and I were taken from my father. At first we were put in a small orphanage that’s just outside of our hometown. We stayed there for about 3 months. It wasn’t that bad. We got everything thing that we needed; food, clothes, a good education. Life was going great I guess. The problem is that Caleb and I were about five years older than the oldest kid in there.

The day that we were told that we were being moved a couple of towns away, I was pretty happy. No more of the little girls wanting to try on my clothes. Sometimes they would take my bras and wear them around the house, mocking her voice in their high pitched ones. It took all that I had not to smack them in their pale faces.

 

**X x X x X**

The day that we were told that we were moving, I was already packed. Caleb and I were then transferred a couple hours away from there. I fell asleep on the car ride there, but the next time I opened my eyes, from Caleb shaking me, I looked out the window to see that we were pulling up to a rather large home.

“What’s it called?” I asked Caleb.

“I think the Widow House,” he shrugs. “It’s something like that.”

“Well, thanks for your help,” I sigh, leaning my forehead against the window. “It’s a pretty house.”

“Yeah,” he agreed with me. The car stopped and we got out, finally getting to see the house in person. I was looking around the home when I saw the blinds being closed fast. I smirked and went to the trunk to grab my things. Caleb beat me to eat however. I scowled at him and take my backpack from him. He doesn’t struggle against me, knowing very well that I very, very easily take him down.

“Are you two ready?” Our case worker, Harrison, asks, shutting the door. We nod and follow him towards the door and wait patiently while he knocks on the door. When the door opens I can hear a lot of shouts. A dark skinned woman stands in the door way and a soft smile that will only cover half of her face because of a scar that starts at the end of her right side of her face and ends at the bottom of her ear. “Johanna.”

“Harrison,” she smiles warmly, wrapping her arms around his large figure in a large hug. “Welcome.”

“Thank you, Johanna,” he tells her, returning the hug. “This is Tris and this is her older brother Caleb.”

“Welcome!” she smiles. Caleb and I look at each other, giving each other a knowing look. We’ve been doing this for years, it’s just a small thing that we do. It’s actually really stupid. I’m brought back to actual reality when Johanna says, in a calming voice, “Come in, why don’t you? It’s so exciting to meet you two.”

“It’s lovely to meet you, too,” Caleb says for the both of us. I nod and keep my eyes cast downward.

“Well, we were just about to have lunch, Harrison would you like to join us?” she asks.

“No, I really need to be getting back. I have to be back in Chicago by three,” he shrugs. He turns to us and gives a curt nod. “I’m going to be visiting you two every couple of weeks just for a small overview of how it’s going,” he smiles. I don’t know what he means by ‘it’ but I don’t say anything. “Johanna, it was lovely as ever.”

“Goodbye, Harrison,” she smiles wide, showing off a small gap in between her front two teeth. Once Harrison is gone, I half expect for her smile to fall into a mean look, but the smile stays on her face. “Well, like I said, we’re about to have lunch, so just follow me.”

We walk silently down the hall. It’s a long corridor and it’s about thirty paces until we are in another room and it surprises me to see about ten or fifteen kids of a variety of ages in what seems to be the living room. They sit in different positions. On the couch, while three people sit slouched, there are two others sitting upside down in between them. On the couches older kids sit with littler kids on their laps. Everyone is strangley silent as they watch, what looks like, _22 Jump Street_.

“Everyone,” Johanna calls over the movie. Someone pauses the movie while Johanna counts heads. “…13… 14. I only count 14, we’re missing one.”

“Marlene’s having devotional time,” a brown-skinned boy says from the ground in front of the TV. “Do you want me to go get her?”

“Yes please,” she sighs. “Well, everyone this is,” she looks towards me and motions towards me with her hand, “Tris, it was?” I nod. She smiles, a smile that I am already tired of, and motions towards him. “And this is Caleb.”

Everyone is silent for a moment, and then they stand and crowd around us. Names are thrown at us at the same time and I don’t like. I feel like screaming. Caleb just simply smiles and tells them that it’s is wonderful to meet them. I sigh and smile without saying something.

“Alright everyone, enough chatty, plates are on the buffet, you know the drill,” I look behind me and sure enough there is a large buffet with plates that contain sandwiches on them. “Tris, Caleb, just follow me into the kitchen we can get you something to eat.”

“Caleb,” I whisper. He looks back at me and I shake my head.

“It’s okay, I’ll eat the other have of your sandwich,” he assures me, wrapping at arm around my shoulders and leading me into the kitchen. I’m sure that it raises some eyebrows, but right now Caleb is probably the only one that is keeping me from throwing chairs and flipping chairs.

Lunch goes by fast and soon enough Johanna has sat everyone down in the living room in a circle. Another brown skin boy is sitting next to me with his arms around a pale skinned girl, who has a wheel chair, but he helped her out for the circle.

“Okay, as we do with all new people, we are going to go around the circle and just say your name. Wait to tell your story until after,” Johanna says. “Well, why don’t we start with… Hector. Then we go counter clockwise.”

“Okay,” a little boy, who cannot be any younger than eleven, says from the lap of a girl with a shaved head. “I’m Hector.”

“Nice Hec,” the bald girl grumbles. “I’m Lynn.”

“Uriah,” the brown skin that left to get ‘Marlene’ says.

“Marlene.”

“Christina.”

“Will.”

“I’m Four,” I raise my eyes at him. He seems secluded. He seems scared. He’s turning me into a wannbe poet.

“I’m Rose.”

“Al.”

“Shauna.”

“I’m Zeke,” the boy next to me smiles.

“Tris.”

“And I’m Caleb.”

“Well,” Johanna says. “I think that it’s time for everyone to get to their rooms for a tour.”

**X x X x X**


	2. Tour

**X x X x X**

**~Chapter 2~**

When we were done with the whole circle thing, or whatever that was, Johanna tells everyone to get to their rooms to start devotions. I sigh inwardly and start to think of all the possibilities of what can come out of this. Johanna will read or listen or something and discover all of my personal problems. I don’t like it, but I don’t want to say anything.

“Can we get snacks?” Uriah asked in a serious tone.

“You can have one bag of chips,” Johanna answers. “But-“ Uriah groans and whines like a little baby. “But if you get crumbs and we have mice again, you will be the one that is staying up al night to kill them.”

“Great, gives me an excuse to stay up late,” he shrugs, running towards the

“Well, why don’t I give you two a tour of the place?” she asks as almost everyone is out of the living room. We follow her, going through the doors of the kitchen. “This is the kitchen as you can see. We have daily meals. During school you get free lunch and we provide breakfast and dinner. School will start in about three weeks, so that will give us a little bit of time to let you settle in.”

“Where are we going to school?” Caleb asks, while we follow her through the kitchen and through a large patio door.

“It’s called Regan High School,” she says. “This is the patio. We have a pool and it is someone’s jobs everyone to clean it.”

“How will we know?” Caleb asks. I look at him with a surprised look. Ever since we were little he’s never been this curious.

“We have a chore chart. It’s pretty juvenile, but everyone seems to like it,” she smiles. “Now, why don’t we show you to your rooms? “

“That would be great,” Caleb says.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why does your sister not talk?” Johanna blurts out.

“I can talk,” I mumble. “I just don’t like to.”

“I understand, I had a girl like that a couple years ago. She was very lovely, but sadly she took her life,” she looked at me. “Depression is a horrible disease.”

“I don’t have depression,” I say with a clearer and louder.

Johanna decides to not push the subject any closer while we walk down the hall. “This is the boys corridor. Caleb, your room is at the end of the hall and as far as I know you are sharing, with,” she looks down at a clipboard, which I hadn’t even noticed, “Four.”

“Why is his name Four?” Caleb asks, staring at the white door. I can only wonder what is behind it. Is it a grueling brute that is going to be bullying my brother? Or is it a big teddy bear that only likes to act tough. Either way, I want to meet him.

“He just prefers to go by that,” she sighs. “He has a very tragic past.”

“I can hear you, ya’ know,” we hear from behind the dorm. The room door opens and I am suddenly face to face with a tall, at least six foot, _very_ handsome boy. His face, as far as I can see is the best part. He’s got a spare upper lip and a long, crooked nose. His eyes are a beautiful blue and his skin is darkened about three tones than mine. Even though this is the second time that I have seen him, this is the first time that I have actually looked at his face.

“I know, I wasn’t going to tell them anything,” the mentor tells him in a calming voice. “This is your reflection time, Four. I suggest that you do just that.”

Four takes a minute before turning on his heel and shutting the door behind him. “Why don’t you go wait in the living room? I have this feeling that he will not be coming out of there until after dinner.”

“Okay,” Caleb looks at me. “Are you going to be okay, Bea?” I nod with a small shrug. “Okay.”

“You may have to wait in there, too,” Johanna sighs. “Your roommate, Christina, takes reflection time _very seriously.”_

“What do you mean?” I ask, my voice getting a little bit louder every time I would speak. I think that my word count was up to about eight words.

“She screams all of her problems into a large pillow while loud rock music plays,” Johanna shrugs, leading me down the hallway. I already know which room is hers because of the sound of Fleetwood Mac’s _Go Your Own way_ playing at a high volume. It’s probably my favorite record out of all them, what with the stories that they tell. All the drama and heartbreak; it makes for a great breakout song. I can tell why she chose this record. “I think that I’ll just let her finish the song, it sounds like it just started. Why don’t I show you the bathroom and chore schedule?” I nod. “You can talk to me, you know?” I nod. “But you are not going to.” I shrug. She sighs and leads me down the hallway.

 “There’s another entrance to the pool entrance down here by the bathroom,” she tells me. We come to a poster at the end of the hall. It’s bright yellow and has permanent marker with different jobs written on it. “We have a chore day every Thursday of the week.”

“Shouldn’t Caleb be here for this?” I ask in my normal voice.

“I’ll tell him later, there’s another chore chart for the boys,” she shrugs. “So, I’ll let you go wait with Caleb. Reflections will be over in about thirty minutes. You guys can just chill until then and then we can bring all your bags to your room and let you get settled for the first night in your new home.”

“Thanks,” I smile, following her through the corridors.

**X x X x X**

“So, what’s the matter with you?” my roommate, Christina, I have noticed is very out there. It’s like she doesn’t have that little bubble in your head to tell you when to shut up. I shrugged it off at dinner like it was nothing.

“What do you mean?” I ask her while I fold my shirts and place them in the antique looking dresser. Johanna told me that they don’t have a lot of funding so they have to settle for donations from thrift shops and places like that. I don’t mind, I’ve always had a sort of nack for antiques.

“ _I mean,”_ she rolls her eyes and falls back onto her bed, pulling the comforter over her, “you barley talk. You’re stick thin. You’re pretty, but not to pretty. Also, you rely on your brother to speak for you most of the time.”

“Well, aren’t you observant?” I mumble under my breath while I grabbed a small t-shirt and a pair of short shorts for me to sleep in tonight. “Why do you want to know?”

“Well, would it make you feel any better if I told you what the problem with me is?” she asks. I start to protest, but she continues on. “So, my parents were dicks. They left me in my house when I was four months old. The neighbors found and while they were trying to find my parents the neighbors kind of took pity on me and whenever I was two, they sent me to an orphanage because they ‘weren’t ready’

“So, then whenever I was like four or something I got adopted. Then whenever I was like six or something my adoptive parents hit me, like a lot. It started with just slaps on my arms and then it got to the point that my teacher told my principal, so I got taken away by Child Protective Services then. Then I jumped from Foster home to foster home. Then I had this amazing house. They McCarty’s; they were Irish and they shared a lot of their customs.

“Then they got killed. Apparently Mr. McCarty was involved in a drug heist. It really messed me up,” I have to hold myself back from asking if that was really what messed her up, but I refrain, letting her finish. “So now every Thursday, Dr. Kang, that’s my therapist, tells me just like spill everything that I have in me. Then he makes out with me and that concludes our session. He also told me that if I tell lies, it isn’t very good for me and my emotional issues.”

“That explains a lot,” I mumble.

“Okay, so now I told you my story, it’s your turn,” she smiles.

I scoff, smile and sit up in my bed. It’s an antique, too, but the mattress is brand new. “Well, my dad worked for the government. So, that meant that he would be on the road a lot. It got to the point of my mom never knew when he would be home. When my brother and I were 15, my mom left. It’s not like they didn’t love us, it’s just that she couldn’t handle my dad being gone for that long. Now it’s the old case of ‘My dad went of his rockers.’ He basically neglected all of our needs. We were taken away by social services and taken to an orphanage. The oldest one, except for us, was like 12 years old. And now here we are.”

“Wow,” she whispers. “It’s okay, we’re all jacked up here. That’s actually kind of while we’re here. There’s this kid, Peter, he’s in and out of jail…”

While Christina continues on with her story, I get into some deep thinking. Caleb and I are jacked up. Our dad went mad. Our mom left. I find food repulsing. Caleb has completely changed who he is; for better or for worst, I have no idea. Maybe we do belong here. 

**X x X x X**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So, I was going to be done with this yesterday, but it was only like 1, 200 words and I wanted to write a little bit more. Now you know Christina’s story. Isn’t it crazy? 
> 
> Oh, well, it’s TECH Week. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it, but my school is doing Once Upon a Mattress and I am playing Princess Number 12. I am so excited and I really, really want this week to be over!   
> I love you guys! You’re the best!


	3. Chapter 3

**X x X x X**

What’s the deal with everyone around here? Why do they want to know everything about my life? We’re not that special. My dad just lost it. It’s not like he hit us or anything.

So far, Caleb and I have been here a week and most of our conversations are about what’s wrong our families. I’ve learned new and exciting things. Like Shauna, Hector and Lynn’s mom passed away whenever Hector was just a mere baby and their dad took it out on him; saying that the baby was the reason she was gone. Apparently she was depressed and took her life by jumping off of a cliff; Shauna was 10, Lynn was only 7, Hector only barley 7 months old. Then, about two years after the death of their mom, Shauna did something (she said that she couldn’t  remember what) and their dad lost it, leaving the living room and coming back later with a loaded shot gun. Shauna told Lynn to take Hector up to her room while she dealt with him. Lynn came back and their dad was on the ground, blood pooling out his leg and Shauna was unmoving, but awake on the floor, complaining about how she couldn’t move. They’ve been here the longest, considering that Shauna was refusing to leave the other two behind if they got adopted. Now, they await the day to get out and be free to live their lives.

Will has a pretty interesting story, too. His dad and his mom were 15 years apart in age and he was the result of a weird scandal between a teacher, his dad, and his student, his mom. His mom was sent away to Canada, where she had Will. His dad went to prison for sexual behaviors and getting one of his students, who was fifteen, pregnant. He was sentenced to 5 years with no trial. When Will was 4, almost 5, his dad came to Canada to find them, claiming that he wanted partial custody. His mom said no, because she didn’t want Will to ever know his dad. So, his dad applied for joint custody, and he was rejected for it. When Will was five, his dad kidnapped him from school and took himself, Will, Will’s half-sister, Cara, and his wife to Jamaica. When he was found, child protective service’s deemed his home environment ‘unsuitable for a child of his age.’ So, now every Wednesday, his mom comes for visiting hours and on Thursday, he goes to see his dad in the county jail. His sister graduated last year and is currently at Berkley for four years, they told me that I would get to meet her at holidays.

Johanna has been pretty calm, but there are a few things that set her off; like when Uriah chews with his mouth open, or when someone refuses to get up, or whenever someone just up and leaves without permission. I’m surprised that she hasn’t gone off on Marlene, who walks out all of the time.

**X x X x X**

“Tris,” Caleb asks, tapping me on the shoulder. It was after school and I really wanted him to leave me alone while I was trying to figure this calculus done before dinner. Another thing that I have noticed is that if you’re not down at the table by the time that Johanna has set all the plates out, Uriah will eat your food. Which is, yet, another thing, I’ve started to eat more, as Johanna was starting to warn me that she was _not_ afraid to take me the hospital. It’s nice, knowing that someone cares. “Tris.” I ignore him. “Hey, Tris. Trissy…”

“What, Caleb?” I ask annoyed.

“What are you doing?” I was now thoroughly annoyed and ready to slap him across his face.

“What does it look like, Caleb?”

“Homework,” he smiles.

“I’m going to kill you,” I smirk.

“Whoa, there’s no need for threats,” a deep voice says, and Four leans into the room. “Caleb, we need to clean our room before Johanna gets here. And we also need to get you out of here before your sister makes those empty threats, not so empty anymore.”

“Yeah, Caleb get out,” I smirk. “Thank you, Four.”

“Whoa, she has a voice,” he says before running out of the room while I jump from the bed. Another thing that I have noticed: I have more energy in myself since we’ve moved here.

**X x X x X**

“REFLECTIONS!” Johanna calls to us once we walk into the house. I sigh and make my way to the pool. I decided a while back that Christina can have our room during reflections. It’s just easier than racing her to our room.

I sit down in one of the lawn chairs and stretch my feet out. I have a sketchpad and some colored pencils with me.  I use reflection time to doodle; it calms me. It’s Johanna’s rule that I have to give my book, which I fill up by the end of the week, to her by the end of the week and she inspects them.

I sit in the chair and stare at my blank canvas. I can’t sleep because then I would get in trouble. I can’t leave because then I would get in trouble…

I’m interrupted by the door opening and closing. I have closed my eyes by this point and i don’t want to open them; however, if it’s Uriah or Zeke I definitely do not want to test my fate of being picked up and thrown in the pool. It’s happened before.

I cautiously open my eyes and see that Four is making his way over to the chair that is sitting next to me. “Hi…”

“Hello,” he says casually.

“Are you drunk, Four? Do you know where you are?” I ask in a playful matter. He nods and turns to face me. “What?”

“Nothing,” he smiles. “I just thought that a breath of fresh air was something that I needed.”

“Well,” I clear my throat and close the lid on my drawing notepad and turn to him as well, “Is there anything that I can help you with?”

“I wish…” he sighs. Another thing that I have noticed; Four has this wall up that I really want to knock down and make him show me the real him. He likes to keep to himself. While the rest of us eat lunch together, he likes to go to the library and eat lunch alone. I’ve made my way to the library a couple of times to see what he does up there. It’s nothing exciting.

“Do you want to play a game?” I ask him. He shrugs. “I’ll tell you my story if you tell me yours.”

“Um… give me a couple of weeks,” he says without hesitation. I purse my lips and nod. I’m not going to push him. Christina has told me a couple of times where Four has gotten angry at school.

“Alright.”

**X x X x X**


End file.
